The Ordering, The Can, The Book
by RR-Forever
Summary: All Hermione wanted was a book. How simple could it be? But when you order something by Fred & George somethings bound to go wrong. Snape is definitely hidding something. And what does Dumbledore have to do with this? Read to find out!
1. Chapter 1

Hey!  
This is my first story which is NOT a one-shot. Yippee!  
It was supposed to be one though, but I got carried away. Now it is going to be three chapters long (I already wrote the whole story. I just have to translate)  
I wrote this when I got bored at school. So, I asked my friend to give me three words and I would write I story with them.  
Guess which words she said...  
A ordering, a can and a book! (This explains the weird title)

I tried to come up with something good, but I have to admit it's a crazy story.

I apologize for the grammar mistakes. I tried my best to keep them minimal, but I'm sure I've overlooked some.  
Please, help me and tell me if you see a mistake. That way I can make sure I won't make them again.  
Thank you!

Don't forget to leave a comment!  
I'd love to know what you think about this story.

Note: _These are Hermione's thoughts _

* * *

"Argh!" Hermione let out a frustrated cry.

This was already her twentieth attempt, which ended in a failure. Normally she already would have given up, weren't it so that Hermione really wanted her book.

_"What was I thinking, ordering something by Fred and George."_ She thought.

A few days ago she saw an advertisement from the twin wizards in the Daily Prophet. If you cut-out the discount coupon and sent it to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes you got the Book of Love for only but 5 galleons! So without anyone noticing she had put the newspaper in her bag and walked as fast as possible to the Girls Dormitory. The last few stairs she even ran!

Once she had reached the Girls Dormitory she quickly cut-out the discount coupon, grabbed 5 galleons (she was actually saving money for a new set of vials), put it all together in an envelope and sprinted to the Owlery to send to an owl to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.

Normally, Hermione would never buy something such as the Book of Love, but this time she made an exception. 'Cause when she was at the Burrow she had accidently heard the Weasley twins say something about that book. Apparently it contained something about a potion, which could tell you what your crush thought of you. Of course, she didn't know for sure if it actually worked, but it wouldn't hurt to try it anyway, right?

You see, Hermione has a huge crush on Severus Snape, the snarky Potions Master since her fifth year at Hogwarts.

Ridiculous, it is obvious that he thinks of her as an annoying know-it-all, one would say, but lately his behaviour towards Hermione was a little strange. He made less nasty comments on her work, told her to answer the question if she knew the answer (which she, of course, always did) and she could swear she saw him smile at her a few times! Any normal person wouldn't consider this strange at all and tell her she had lost her mind. Hermione, however, wasn't just an ordinary person. She was the smartest witch Hogwarts had ever seen in a century. No, for Hermione these were all signs that Severus Snape was hiding something hidden and whatever it was, it had something to do with her. So, naturally, Hermione immediately got her hopes up, thinking that he didn't he thought of her as a know-it-all. Therefore, she had ordered the book, but apparently Fred and George found it amusing to pull a prank on her, because instead of the book she ordered, they sent a can with peas. She had almost thrown it away when she got it delivered this morning when an owl arrived to deliver a letter to her:

_Dear Hermione, _

_We had never thought you know out of all people would be interested in this book. Apparently, you do have a dark side. We're proud of you! _

_You probably don't want everyone to be able to see what you've ordered, so to help you, we have disguised the book as a can with peas. (No need to thank us. We know we're amazing).  
You just have to figure out the counter charm yourself, but for a brilliant witch like you, that shouldn't be a problem, right? _

_Good luck!_

_Regards,_

_Fred & George _

Fortunately, it was Saturday so she had no lesson and all her homework was already done. So she had the whole day to figure out the counter charm. She was sitting outside at the Lake on a sheltered spot so nobody would disturb her. It was now 1 o'clock at night and so far she had had no luck finding the counter charm. She had tried everything she could think of, but nothing worked. It was still a stupid can with peas. She had to go to the library. She was sure she would find the solution in one of the books there. After all, the library had never let her down. As quiet as possible she grasped the can from her nightstand and climbed through the portrait hole. It was dark in the hallways. The only light came from the torches on the wall. She heard the rapid patter of a mouse and saw how he disappeared through a hole in the wall. A shiver ran along her back. She ran to the library as fast as possible.  
When she came on the fourth floor she thought she saw someone at the end of the hallway, but when she looked again she saw nobody. She wanted to move on, but she hadn't taken a step when she heard something rustling behind her back. She quickly turned around... Nothing.

Now Hermione got a little scared. She sprinted to the library. She didn't care about the noise that she caused. She just wanted to reach the library safely.

Fortunately, she reached the library be without getting caught and once she arrived she immediately forgot about the mysterious person.

She pulled a random book from one of the shelves and started reading. She continued her search, her can with peas on one of the tables.  
An hour, five books and twelve failed attempts later Hermione began to get desperate.

"I'll just write Fred and George a letter and beg them to tell me the solution" she thought.

She was about to go away when a voice sounded behind her.

"Miss Granger, where do you think you're going?"

Hermione froze in fright. She hadn't heard anyone entering the library.

"Well, Miss Granger?"

Slowly she turned around and found herself face to face with none other than Severus Snape.

_Of course, out of all people he must be the one to find me here_

"I, uhm, I-, I was just about to go to bed." Hermione stuttered.  
"I don't think so" Sounded his response. "You are going to tell me what you were doing here in the library," he cast a glance at the table. "With peas in a can."

"Well, I, uhm, you know ..." Hermione began.

"Think you'll be able to tell me today?" Snape said sarcastically.

"I'm sorry sir. I-I was just ..." She tried one more time. Sweat broke her out, her breathing was fast and restless and her head repeated the same sentence over and over: _he's too close, Too close, too close..._

"Spit it out already!"

"I, uhm, I was looking for a," _Take a deep breath Hermione. _"I was looking for a charm. You see, I had ordered a book by Fred and George, but those pranksters have sent me a can with peas and a note, telling me that I have to figure out the counter charm myself. So I have been trying the whole day to change this stupid can in a book. I've tried everything I could think of, but nothing worked, so I touched I'd go to the library to search for a spell that would maybe work. "

"And what's so special about that book that it entitles you to be here at 2 am?

"I'm sorry, sir." Hermione said with her head downwards.

"That is no answer to my question." He said curtly.

Surprised she looked up at him. He sighted deeply and said: "The book, Miss Granger. What is the title of the book? "

"Oh, the Book of Love, sir"

Snape's eyebrows shot up. "Ah, the Book of Love, and what would Miss Granger exactly want with that book?"

"I wanted to try a Potion, sir. There is a Potion in the book that tells you how your crush thinks about you." Hermione said and a blush crept up her face.

"I had never expected that you would keep yourself busy with such practices, Miss Granger. I had higher expectations of you, and that all for a silly crush. "

Hermione let her head hang in shame.

"I, I don't think it's a-a c-crush, sir." She said carefully.

"Oh it's not? So you love him huh? "He said mockingly.

Hermione nodded cautiously.

"Please, do tell me, who is this boy you love?" He said with a hint of jealousy.

"It's you, sir."

After a long awkward silence he said: "Ah, I see. Well than I suggest you start making that potion. "

Hermione looked at him in disbelief. _Has he lost his mind?! No insults, no nasty comments? _

"But sir, aren't you mad or something?" She asked amazed.

Instead of answering her question he said: "Have you already tried to open the can to see if the book is **inside**? You might want to try that. Goodnight Miss Granger. "

He turned and walked away, but just before he left the library he waited a minute and said: "Oh and Miss Granger, I would like to know the result immediately once you have finished your potion."

He pulled something out of his pocket and put it on the table near the exit. "And you might need these." And with that said he turned around the corner, leaving Hermione in shock.

Little did she know that from the moment he was out of sight, he changed in an old man with a long white beard, twinkling blue eyes and a pair of half-moon spectacles.

Albus Dumbledore chuckled. "Severus won't know what will happen to him. I think my impression of him is pretty convincing. Though, I should work on my hiding skills. Oh, I would like a large brandy. Let's pay the house-elves a visit." He walked towards the kitchens, humming.


	2. Chapter 2

The second chapter!

Thanks for the lovely reviews!

* * *

Meanwhile, Hermione came back to her senses and walked to the table with the mysterious object that 'Snape' had left behind.

On the table stood a vial, which contained a thick transparent kind of liquid.

_Hmm, water? Nah that's thinner. It looks like slime. Maybe it is... No he wouldn't... _

But the closer she looked how clearer it became that it was exactly what she thought it was.

_Saliva! His saliva! In a vial! Bah, gross!_

She quickly held the vial at arms length away.

_Why would he give me his saliva in a vial? He is definitely hiding something! But what?_

Suddenly, she remembered the book again. _Look inside the can, huh? That I haven't thought that myself! _

Full of good hope she pried the lid off and there it was. The book. She grabbed the book from the bottom of the can. It was as big as an eraser. _A shrink spell, of course!_

She quickly said the counter charm and watched how the spell the book grew back to its original format. It was a light brown book with on the cover in big red letters the title _The Book of Love. _It seemed as if the whole book had a pink glow.

She opened the book on the first page: the index. The page was covered with hearts that hovered over the pages and each new subject was indicated with a cupid. _Ugh, typical Fred and George to decorate a book so extravagant._

She searched for the right page and read the instructions.

_Hmm, that doesn't seem too hard. _

Suddenly her eye fell on the last line of the page. There it was, in small letters: _**"To complete this potion, one must use a little saliva of the person from whom you want to know how they think about you."**_

_Ah, that's were the saliva for is! That's disgusting! Hold on, how does he know that I would need that? Moreover, if he wanted me to make this potion, why didn't he just tell me what he thinks of me? Like I said, something strange is going on! _

She quickly gathered her stuff together and tiptoed back to her Dormitory as fast as possible. She changed in to her PJs and climbed into bed. The last thing on her mind was how to get all the ingredients needed for the potion.

The next morning, she woke up early. She dressed and trudged to the Great Hall. From the outside it may seemed as if Hermione was still half asleep, but inside her head, her mind was already making overtime, trying to figure out a way to get those ingredients without anybody noticing. She absently started chewing on some toast and didn't notice Harry and Ron making their way to her. Ron plopped down beside her and Harry went to sit opposite from her.

"Hey Hermione, you're there?" Ron said and waved his hand in front of her eyes. After a few times of trying to get her attention he said to Harry: "Harry, I think she is sick. She gives no answer. "

"Nah, she's just deep in thought. It probably has something to do with homework. Talking about homework, have you already finished yours for Transfiguration?"  
"What?! We had homework?!" Ron said, completely forgetting about Hermione.

Meanwhile, Hermione had already devised several ideas.

_I could, of course, try to sneak them with me under Potions. If I smuggle one or two with me in my bag each lesson… He might not even notice, but then again, he did notice when Moody used his ingredients. Oh, I could also just buy them, but they are very expensive and I am actually saving for a new set of vials. _

She was so deep in thought that she didn't notice the post arriving and the brown screech owl hopping in front of her to get attention. In fact, Hermione didn't even notice the brown screech owl hopping in front of her, trying to get her attention. Well, that is until the owl decided to bite in her hand to get her attention. A very effective way, because it she startled her so much that she dropped her toast and immediately forgot her ideas. She looked at her hand. At the tip of her ring finger a drop of blood started to form. She quickly reached for a napkin and pressed it against her finger to stop the bleeding.

"What idiot..." Suddenly she noticed the owl, on his right leg was a square parcel as big as a toaster.

"A parcel? For me? But I haven't ordered anything, right?"

"Apparently you did Hermione. Why else would that owl have been hopping in front of you for the last ten minutes? Maybe you should daydreams less." Harry said laughing.

"I was not daydreaming and besides, even if he has really been here for the last ten minutes I certainly would have noticed him." She said coldly.

"Yes indeed, just like you would have heard my question to you about our transfiguration homework or Harry's story about this weird dream he had last night, right mate?" Ron said while he, like Harry, started laughing.

"Yeah, well you can make your own homework Ronald! Don't expect me to help you! "

"Oh, come on Hermione! I was just kidding!" He tried.

"Well, you should have thought about that before you started making fun of me." She responded.

Defeated he got up and walked with Harry out of the Great Hall.

"She'll come around. You know her, right? She's not really mad at you." Harry said to him.

Hermione had her attention already focused on the owl and was now trying to get the parcel from his leg. Once the parcel got loose the owl merrily flew away.

She opened the parcel and saw, to her great surprise that it contained ingredients, and not just some random ingredients, but exactly what the ones she needed for her potion. She searched for a note, but there was none.

_Strange, who would send me these ingredients? It couldn't be... No, professor Snape would never do something like that. _

Yet she could not resist to take a quick look at Professor Snape. He was in a conversation with Professor Flitwick and had absolutely no attention for the students, let alone for Hermione.

_See, of course he wouldn't send me those. _She thought disappointed. _Oh well, it doesn't matter. The important thing is that I have all the ingredients. The only thing left now is brewing the potion. I think I'll bring Moaning Myrtle a visit. Brrr, the thought alone gives me the chills. _

She gathered her stuff and walked to the second floor Girls ' Lavatory. Fortunately Myrtle wasn't there so Hermione could undisturbed go to work.

It was almost four o'clock when the potion was finished. The only thing she had to do was add the saliva. Using a ladle, she poured the now colourless liquid in a glass. The potion that was left she put in several vials.

_I'm pretty sure Lavender would like to use this as well. _

Hermione knew the meaning of the colours:

Red meant true love.

Yellow meant hate.

Green meant jealousy.

Blue represented trust.

Purple meant friendship.

Orange meant attraction.

Each colour had a different meaning.

Shaking with nerves she poured the saliva in the glass. For a long time nothing happened and she began to wonder whether she had done everything correctly, when suddenly the colour began to change. Yellow, purple, Brown, red, green, Orange, blue.

At first very slowly, but getting faster until she could make no distinction between the different colours anymore. Slowly the colours merged together and formed one colour. A dark red colour.

_Love!_ Shot through her. _He loves me! _Full ofdisbelief she grabbed the book and checked the meaning again. There it stood: _Red stands for true love._

She immediately forgot everything around her and sprinted from the Girls ' Lavatory, down to the Dungeons and stopped in front of the door.

The door which led to Severus Snape's Private Quarters.

She waited a minute to take a breath and then knocked on the door. There sounded some noise on the other side of the door and she heard the lock of the door open. Slowly the door opened and there he stood, in all his glory, the man who left Hermione speechless, Severus Snape.

After a minute of deep silence he said curtly: "Yes, miss Granger?"

That snapped Hermione out her daze and before she even realised what she did she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him full on his mouth. Too shocked to react, he just stood there with his arms hanging limb beside him. It wasn't long before he came back to his senses and with all his might he pushed Hermione by her shoulders away.

"What do you think you're doing?!"


	3. Chapter 3

This is it! The final chapter!  
I'm so sorry for the late update!

Question: Were the characters very OOC?

Don't forget to review!  
Reviews make my day!

**Note:  
**_Hermione's thoughts  
Snape's thoughts_

* * *

"I know your secret, sir!"

"My secret?" He asked surprised. "Pray tell me, Miss Granger, what is my so called secret?"

"You love me!" She said happily.

"What makes you think so?"

"Well, I made the potion, just like you told me to do, and it turned red, which means that you love me. On top of that, you are not denying it! "She said, very sure of herself.

"What potion? I never told you to make a potion. I'm perfectly capable of making my own potions, thank you very much." He said confused.

"Yes you did! Last night, in the library, remember? I told you about the book that I bought and the potion that can tell you how someone thinks about you. So, you asked me why I would want to make that potion and I told you that I love you. When you left you gave me a vial with saliva and told me that, once I had the outcome, I immediately had to come to tell you about it. I didn't have the ingredients, but this morning when the post arrived I got a package with all the necessary ingredients. I don't know who sent it, because there was no note, but I think it was you. Maybe you wanted to help me so that I would be able to finish the potion quicker and find out earlier that you love me since you already knew that I love you so this could only turn out great." She rattled on, a big smile on her face.

Snape just stood there, gaping at here as if she had just grown a third head.

"What are you talking about? I never went to the library last night. I wasn't even at school! I didn't send you those ingredients and I most certainly did not give you my saliva!" He snapped.

Hermione's smile slowly faded away. "But ... I saw you ... and you ... I..." She stuttered.

"Let me tell you this, Miss Granger. I don't care about your little crush. I don't care what potion made you think that I could possibly love you, but I can assure you. I do NOT love you!" He spat.

Tears welled up in her eyes. She quickly wiped them away with her sleeve. She was about to say something, when a knock on the door interrupted her.

"Severus, you're in there?" Came Dumbledore's voice from the other side of the door.

"Yes headmaster. I'm coming." He said and focused his attention back on Hermione. "I'm sure you'll never bother me with this rubbish again, am I right?"

She nodded quickly.

"Good, now get out." He said coldly.

Hermione hurried to the door. Bumping into Dumbledore, who was still waiting on the other side of the door.

"I am so sorry, sir!" She said quickly, while trying to hide her tears. Failing miserably.

"Miss Granger, why are you crying?"

"Oh, it's nothing. Just ... something silly. A stupid crush, that's all." She said softly, sniffing.

"Ah yes, love. The greatest weakness of most humans is their hesitancy to tell others how much they love them while they're still alive." He said and gave her a comforting smile.

"Thank you, sir. I'll go now."  
She gave him a weak smile and quickly ran away.

Dumbledore closed the door behind him and turned to Snape.

"I hope you are not the reason why Miss Granger is crying." He looked at Snape. "The look on your face tells me you are the reason she is crying." He sighed deeply. "I will ask you one more time. Please try not to scare the students or make them cry, and most certainly not Miss Granger. She tries so hard for your approval and you just ignore her. You know, even though you treat her like garbage I've never seen Miss Granger cry about the way you treat her. I hate to say this Severus, but this time you have gone too far. You have just crushed her heart and for what? What has she done to deserve this? Please, tell me Severus. "

"Head master, Miss Granger, she just kissed me and as an excuse she came up with a story about a strange potion which told her that I would supposedly love her!" At this Dumbledore raised his eyebrow.

"My boy, didn't you tell me a few weeks ago that you do indeed love her?"

"Well, yes I did," He said softly. "But that doesn't mean she can just come down her, kiss me, lie to me about a potion and than accuse me of loving her!" He said. His voice rising with each word he said.

"Accuse you? That's a bit harsh. I believe she was merely stating the truth. Why didn't you just tell her she was right? We both know she was. "

"What does it matter? It would have made no difference. "

"No difference? It would have made all the difference! No offense Severus, you have a brilliant mind, but when it comes to love, you still have a lot to learn. Love is not a sin. It is the most wonderful thing in the world. You shouldn't turn your back on it. As for the potion she was talking about, she was telling the truth. I told Miss Granger to make that potion. I used Polyjuice Potion to disguise myself as you, gave her your saliva and sent her the ingredients this morning. "

Completely bewildered he asked: "What reasons could you possibly have to do something so insane?!"

"Isn't that obvious? I just wanted you to be happy and Miss Granger can give you that happiness. Well, that is if you let her or course."

"Don't you think it would have been wiser if you had told me about this ' plan '?"

"Now, what good would that have done?"

"Oh I don't know. Maybe this wouldn't have end up being a complete disaster!"

"If I had told you about it, you wouldn't even have given me a chance to carry it out."

"Well of course not! Why can't you just go bother someone else with your crazy ideas on how to ruin somebody's life! "

"I'm sorry if that's the way you see it Severus, but I never intended on ' ruining you life '. I was just trying to help you. Life is so much better if you have someone to share it with. Someone you love. Just give it a chance. "

Snape opened his mouth to say something, but Dumbledore interrupted him before he could even utter a word.

"Don't start with the student/teacher thing or the age difference. That's utterly rubbish and you know it. Love is the most powerful kind of magic in the world and nothing can stop that and most certainly not a stupid school rule about a student/teacher relationship. Now I can assure you that Miss Granger truly loves you, but like I said, you just went to ruin it. Now you can either go find her and apologize to her or you can sit here all by yourself and sulk about how miserable your life is. It's entirely up to you."

With that he walked away leaving Snape in deep thoughts.

Meanwhile, Hermione had reached her favourite spot and was now sitting under a tree by the Lake. Tears were streaming down her face. _What was I thinking! How could I ever think he would like me, let alone love me. He won't ever see me as anything else than an annoying know-it-all._

She was so deep in thought that she didn't hear the footsteps of a person approaching her. Behind her someone cleared his throat. No reaction.

"Miss Granger?"

Hermione stiffened. _Oh no. Not him. Just ignore him, maybe he'll go away. _

"Normally one answers when their teacher calls them."

"Yes, well, maybe I don't want to talk to you" she said curtly.

He sighed and settled himself down next to her. Hermione quickly turned her back on him.

"Miss Granger, will you at least look at me?"

He just wanted to talk, but she didn't even want to look at him.

"Please, Hermione?"

At this she turned around, but kept her head looking the other way.

"You called me Hermione." She said softly.

"Yes, I did. I do happen to know your first name, Hermione." He said dryly.

"Oh, now that's new for me." She said harshly, turning her head to look at him.

_Sarcasm is definitely not the way to go right now._

"Well, what is it you wanted to tell me? How annoying I am? Tell me that I'm a know-it-all or how dumb I was for ever considering you would love me? Go on! "Tell me!" She said, anger taking over.

Taken back by her outburst he thought to himself: _I must have really hurt here. _

"I'm sorry, Hermione."

"What?" She said, forgetting all her anger.

"I said, I'm sorry, Hermione." He repeated. "I shouldn't have acted the way I did. It was cruel and unfair." He nervously started wringing his hands together. "I know there is no excuse for my horrible behaviour, especially not since you were right. _Alright, now is the time. You can do this. You've faced the Dark Lord, this should be easy. Here we go. _

"You were right, because I do," He took a deep breath. "I do love you."

Hermione was dumbstruck. There was a long silence and Snape got more nervous with every minute. _Why isn't she saying something? Oh God I got messed it all up again. How am I gonna fix this? The old fool with his ridiculous ideas. I'll kill him! Dumbledore's one dead man! _

His thoughts got interrupted when a soft hand lightly touched his. He looked down to see Hermione's hand resting on his.

"I love you too." She said, smiling for ear to ear.

He slowly leaned forward until his lips touched hers. They felt soft against his and he didn't think he would ever feel something so perfect again. When they pulled apart he couldn't help himself but smile. Of course did didn't go unnoticed by Hermione.

"Is that a smile? Is Severus Snape smiling?" She said giggly.

"I do know how to smile, yes."

"I never knew that, but now I do I'm planning on seeing it more often." She said and captured his lips in another kiss. After they had to pull apart for air he said: "I really have to thank Albus."

"Thank him? What for? "

"For his brilliant plan."

"What plan?" Hermione asked, clearly confused.

"Apparently it was him you saw in the library yesterday. He used Polyjuice Potion. That man is a genius. He's the one who sent you those ingredients. Turns out, he does everything for love. "

"Well, in that case I should come with you. I think I owe him a thank you as well. "

"Let's go then."

He stood up and pulled Hermione with him. Together they walked hand in hand to Dumbledore's office.

The end

* * *

My dear friend CloakIce especially for you the long-awaited kiss!  
I hope the ending didn't disappoint you.  
Next time I'm bored, I'll ask for your help again.  
Maybe you should write your own story. I would love to read it, you know. :)  
Please!

I hope you all enjoyed my little story.  
Thank you for reading this story and of course for all the lovely comments!

For those who want to know this:  
_The greatest weakness of most humans is their hesitancy to tell others how much they love them while they're still alive.__  
_A quottation by Orlando A. Battista

Bye bye!  
'Till next time!

RR-forever


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